


Just Kneed a Little Proof

by WithoutForesight



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: In the underground, M/M, Mild Angst, Mostly Fluff, Multiverse, Nightmare mention, multiple AUs, scar mention, vague drug reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25332649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WithoutForesight/pseuds/WithoutForesight
Summary: A prompt request on tumblr for uselessundertalefacts!79 - “Are you high?” - “I’m just so fucking tired.”
Relationships: Papyrus/Papyrus (Undertale), Spicyhoney
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	Just Kneed a Little Proof

“And now it just needs to rise!”

Delicately patting the warm towel draped over the dough, the exuberant monster bounced on his heals, training those brilliant blue eye lights over his shoulder and onto his baking compatriot.

“These might be the best ones yet!”

“Yes, well,” wiping up the last of the sticky residue left over from kneading, Edge quirked his most mischievous smirk to meet the warm gaze, “the fact that you and I made it together should be all the _proof_ you _kneed_.”

Those round sockets widened almost impossibly further for a beat, but his matching impossibly wide smile pushed them back closed as a bright laughter bubbled out of the older skeleton, flushing the very shade of his nickname sake.

“That one was so good!!!”Wiping an unshed tear from his socket, Blue brushed the flour from his apron as he moved to collect the dirtied dishes, “You’ve gotta save that one for my bro, he’ll never see it coming!”

Stepping aside to allow him access, Edge rung his dish towel out over the sink, “Most certainly.It’s the _yeast_ I can do.”

Even with his focus on the task of drowning the towel in the soapy water, he could feel his own mouth press into a slight smile at the barely contained chuckling that sounded behind him at the joke.

Such lighthearted gags had no place in his home ‘verse, but here, in such a lighthearted universe, they were welcome.And while he’d be hard pressed to admit it, Edge had a soft spot for his brother’s jubilant counterpart and his fondness for puns.His own brother’s laughter was something he heard so rarely anymore, it was a pleasant reminder of what it sounded like.And what he hoped it would sound like again some day.

His own brother aside, it was nice to know he could give something back, however small a smile may be compared to what they’ve given him and his brother, and Blue was the closest thing he’d ever had to a friend.Beside Undyne, of course.But he took a certain measure of pride in being able to make their time together peaceable.Something he couldn’t say about all of their variants from other ‘verses.

They finished tidying in companionable silence, Edge swept up in thoughts of his day ahead, his brother, his home, his work.So when Blue turned to him, as they dried their hands, and cleared his throat, he wasn’t prepared for the ensuing request. 

“Actually, about my brother,” toying uselessly with the hem of his t-shirt, Blue averted his ever so slightly dimmed eye lights, “he’s missed his sentry shifts all week.I...I don’t like to pry, but I don’t think he’s actually eating the meals I leave for him, either.He likes to ‘share’ with that fiendish dog when he’s not really...”

Shuffling his feet, the shorter skeleton craned his neck to meet Edge’s gaze, wearing an uncharacteristically strained smile as he spoke with reflecting softness, “Could you try talking to him?”

Only just able to refrain from balking, Edge crossed his arms.He was possibly the last person on the theoretical list of people Stretch would be willing to open up to, so why Blue would think to ask him was beyond a mystery.Something he seemed to realize just after the question hit the air.

“I-I know you two don’t always get along, but you’re- the three of you always seem to have this sort of,” floundering, he waved his hands trying to figure a phrase to his thoughts, “understanding” he decided, “that me ‘n Red ‘n Sans just...just don’t.”

Watching the floor now, Blue wrung his hands slowly, his genuine frustration peaking through, “I already asked Rus but Pap- sorry, Stretch won’t talk to him, either.Just brushes him off...”

“It’s almost been a month, and it’s- he’s...getting worse,” pinching his nasal ridge, Blue finally stopped fidgeting, exhaustion heavy in his voice, “I...I don’t know what to do, Edge.”

It made slightly more sense, knowing he was a last resort of sorts, but still.There was a very real chance sending him in would be pouring gasoline on the fire.Or maybe a better metaphor would be dousing a bare smoldering with ice water.Regardless, he certainly didn’t want to be the hay that broke the camel’s back, and in Stretch’s case, the results had a very real chance of being fatal.

After the silence dragged out for another moment, Blue rubbing his arm while Edge fixed his gaze on the snow beyond their window, so pristinely white, so unlike the pale ashy grey he was used to, Blue’s sigh brought him back from his thoughts.

“You don’t have to, I just figured I’d ask, ya know?I...I know it’s a lot-“

“I’ll do it.”

The sincere surprise in the eye lights that flicked back up to him twisted his soul.Did Blue really believe he’d turn down a plea for help from one brother to another?Then again, his silence hadn’t exactly encouraged confidence, now had it?

“Though I can’t promise I won’t make it worse.”

A hint of that more typical joy returned to his features as Blue clasped his hands together, “No, no, that’s- really?You’ll talk to him??” 

Scoffing, Edge stepped around him, hanging the towel to dry, “Is that really so hard to believe?”

He felt a hint of guilty satisfaction at Blue’s flustered stammering, as he hurriedly amended, “N-No!Of course not!I just...”

Collecting himself with a deep breath, the skeleton straightened his posture, the vibrancy returned to those cobalt eye lights.

“Thank you,” the gratitude shown in his steady voice.

Nodding, Edge leaned back against the counter, careful to keep his lingering insecurities from his expression as Blue headed back out into the living room.

“If you need anything, call anytime!”Popping back into the kitchen doorway, shoes and shoulder pads now equipped, all the seriousness from his face has faded as Blue cast him a bright smile, “And not just about my brother, for any reason at all!Okay?”

“I will keep that in mind.”

If he caught the slight strain in his voice, Blue didn’t show it, smile broadening for a beat longer before he disappeared back into the other room.The front door opened and closed with a click, no tell tale sound of a lock sliding into place (of course there wouldn’t be), and Edge was on his own.

The timer above the stove seemed to glare at him.One hour and thirteen minutes.He had one hour and thirteen minutes before the buns would need to be placed in the oven, and then another hour to bake before he could leave.

He pondered going upstairs now, harassing Stretch sooner rather than later far preferable to waiting two hours in a still house alone.But if it resulted in an argument, he wouldn’t be able to complete the recipe, and waste not only a morning’s work, but the swap brothers’ resources as well.

Though, if it was a depressive state, as expected, Stretch wouldn’t be much for arguing.Maybe annoyance, but he’d most likely plead to be left alone before mustering up anything resembling true anger.

He’d never seen Stretch genuinely angry, he mused, and he couldn’t help but drift to thoughts of the three of them, and their universes.How different they all were and yet so similar, at times.And he couldn’t help but wonder if Rus and Stretch had ever been forced to bare their teeth and fight for their lives.And his thoughts drifted to that little ragged flower that Sans had warned him, in no uncertain terms, to stay far, far away from.

It had been one of the only times the other two ‘verses had visited theirs- Fell, as they called it -and the strange memory of seeing Sans behave like his own brother, cold and tense, intent thick in the air, had left quite an impression.He’d spent many patrols afterwards wondering why Sans had been so perturbed by...Flowery?Whatever his name, Edge rarely even saw the monster, timid thing that he was, but it offered a strange glimpse into their counterpart’s worlds.That perhaps all was not as easygoing as it seemed.

Fifty-three minutes.

Surrendering to his tension, Edge pushed away from the counter.Whatever happened, he couldn’t imagine it would take that long.And most likely end in a door being slammed in his face.Or at least, that’s how his brother’s episodes usually worked.

Making his way through the living room and to the stairs, conscious not to be too quiet, he found himself hesitating in front of Stretch’s door.The sudden realization that he might not fail, and that he wouldn’t know what to do should his alternate actually want his help, occurred too late as his overly loud knock sounded through the otherwise quiet house.

His mind didn’t get the chance to register panic before something clattered within the room, followed by cross mumbling and what he could only hope was an office chair rolling across the floor.The door clicked softly as it opened, blue magic, judging by how far Stretch was from the door.Sure enough he was at his desk, chair rolled back for him to greet who his shocked expression implied he believed to be his brother.

“wha- who are you?”The smudges under his eyes were unusually dark, and when his face screwed up to blink too hard, Stretch’s appearance could only be described as awful, “wh- that’s not what i mean.”

Quirking a brow bone, Edge took a step into the room, toeing dirty laundry out of the way.Trying not to scowl in disgust, he realized there was a familiar scent lingering in the air, beyond the normal stench of a room unkempt.

“Are you high?”

Stretch only stared at him for a minute, and he could almost see the words as they processed, the monster’s sockets widening in surprise.

“no!no, um...” shifting awkwardly in his chair, Stretch rubbed his face uselessly, “no, ‘dyne gave me...these, uh...these......” rolling his hand and snapping did little to jog his memory, and eventually he settled for flailing his hand in the general vicinity of something on his bookshelf.

“Incense.”

“yeah...incense...”

Edge watched as the chair seemed to almost consume the skeleton, sinking lower and lower until Edge was certain he’d break his neck if he went any further.

“Mhmm,” he hummed dryly, shifting his weight from one leg to the other as he crossed his arms, “so then what’s wrong with you?”

With a snort, Stretch pushed up enough to be back out of the danger zone, smiling bitterly when he slurred, “i’m just...so fucking tired.”

Tired.Okay.He could work with tired.

“You’ve never seemed to have a problem sleeping before.”An observation, not a prod.But going by the way Stretch looked away from him, frowning, he missed the mark.

“heh, yeah, makes sense i’d find a way ta be bad at the one thing ‘m good at, right?”Fixing his position more properly, he still looked more liquid than solid as he turned back toward his desk.

Backtracking, his attention flickered to the wicks sat beside the desk, and an idea clicked into place.

“There’s no need to be _incensed_ by it.”

It was an incredible thing really, to watch Stretch whip back around so quickly without flinging himself from the chair, gawking in disbelief, and it took all of his willpower to keep his expression completely neutral.

“ _Fuming_ won’t get you anywhere.”

And that was it.What started as a chuckle soon gave way to uproarious laughter, orange tears beading in the corners of his sockets, struggling to catch his breath.This time, Edge didn’t bother concealing his satisfied smirk, watching as Stretch fought to rein himself in.

“that’s not-!that’s not fair!i’m too- ‘m too out of it for that!”

His face flushed in a matching orange glow, Stretch wiped the tears from his sockets, rubbing his temples as the last few airy snickers tapered down.Their eye’s met for a moment, Stretch trying, and failing, to glare at him, and a strange feeling washed over him.Relief, obviously.He hadn’t done the wrong thing, and when it came to dealing with Stretch, that was quite the feat.

Sobering his expression, he tried his best to relax his posture, carefully picking the sensitive subject back up.

“Why don’t you try taking a nap?”

It felt like undoing progress to dampen Stretch’s mood, but if this could be solved, or at least aided, by a little bed rest, then he wasn’t about to drop it.

“i must look pretty terrible if even edgelords are telling me to get some sleep.”

Stalling.Twice in a row he’d dodged the question, which meant he didn’t want to sleep.

_Nightmares_.

Ah, that would make sense.The rest of them had them, why would he be the exception?

“You do.”

Scoffing, Stretch looked back to him with exasperated amusement, “thanks.”

Edge watched him even after he’d turned away, varying methods he’d tried to help his own brother over the years resurfacing in his mind.It had been a while since Sans- Red, rather -had accepted his help, but if memory served, one of the few things to work was company.The physical presence of another a balm to the mind.

Calling Blue back to the house was the first solution to cross his mind.He’d do it in a soulbeat for his brother, even if it meant icing the rest of the day’s plans.But Stretch had been very purposefully avoiding letting his brother assist, for whatever reason.As much as Stretch was like him and Rus, he was just as often so frustratingly akin to his own brother and Sans.

Edge only ever scheduled cooking lessons with Blue for his rare days off, any excuses he had to leave out the window in a similar fashion to Rus in any nerve wracking situation.

“If I stay, will you at least try to rest?”Sighing internally, Edge spoke before his mind could offer an excuse not to.

And for the second time that day, he felt an embarrassing frustration at the way Stretch stared, wide eyed yet again, as though Edge had sprouted a second head.Was it truly so hard to believe he could be considerate?

“wh-wait,” with a firm scrubbing of his face, Stretch turned toward him completely, squinting as though it was almost too much to reopen his eyes completely, “could you, uh, could you repeat that?”

Not withholding his sigh this time, he tempered himself before responding, annunciating clearly.

“If I stay here, in your room, while you lay down, will you at least try to sleep?”

In spite of the clarification, Stretch still stared through narrowed eyes as though Edge wasn’t speaking at his normal volume, and instead whispering too gently to hear.Blinking hard to prevent him from rolling his eyes, he unfolded his arms to rest his hands on his hips.

“An answer would be appreciated.”

Shaking his head slightly, Stretch looked down at the floor, whatever he found there making him scowl in contrast to the fading smile still pasted on his face, most likely from habit.

“you...why?”Looking back up, Stretch managed to look somehow worse, and the question of just how long he’d gone without sleeping nestled in amongst the several others already fighting to be recognized.

“Because you need it.And I’m not busy.If you have any other questions, I’d prefer they be formally submitted in duplicate with proper documentation and signatures.Now,” clenching his teeth for a second to keep his patience, he kept his tone as calm as he could manage, “do you want me to stay, or go?”

It was almost torturous to have his kindness so scrutinized.Stretch was the one who didn’t like him, and to have both Swap brothers respond to him as if he were a caged animal they were hesitant to trust was an unpleasant reminder of their true opinions on him and his brother, of their world.Even Blue, who’d been one of the first to try and bridge the gap, had been at a loss for words at his easy agreement to help Stretch, and it filled his mouth with an uncomfortably bitter taste.

They were all similar.But clearly not enough.

Once Stretch managed to pull himself from whatever sleep deprived thought process he was struggling through, a faint blush rose to his face as he curled backwards into his chair.

“would, um...would you really?would you mind?”His words were even heavier with fatigue than before, but they managed to be soft, like he suspected the offer was insincere.

“I don’t offer assistance I’m not willing to give.”His own feelings on their relationships didn’t matter right now, though.He was here to help, and if it was as bad as Stretch looked and Blue implied, then he could offer whatever unnecessary reassurances he had to.

The answer had been agreeable enough, Stretch nodding more to himself as he folded his legs up and held them.

“yeah, um...that would be...if ya don’ mind,” he mumbled.

Accepting that would probably be as close to a ‘yes’ as he’d get, Edge nodded curtly, stepping over a paper bag from Muffet’s and a few more pieces of what could loosely be described as clothes to close the distance between them.

With an exaggerated wave of his hand, Edge guided him to his bed, a proper bed, and he was so very grateful that was one of the ways Stretch differed from the Sanses of their universes.

Catching the lower frame of the chair with his foot, he wheeled it over, as well, taking up post bedside as Stretch sat, lazily pulling his oversized sweatshirt over his head with clumsy hands and tossing it to the floor to perish with its brethren.

It was a rare sight, to see Stretch in anything so revealing as a plain black tank top, and a bit jarring, admittedly, to get a full view of just how slender his pristine bones were.He was accustomed to seeing Rus’s unmarred physique, and while he couldn’t say he was ashamed of his own marks, it was always a bit strange.

This was something else.

Rus and Edge weren’t too dissimilar, physically speaking, aside from the height difference, but Stretch?Not only were his shoulders more narrow but his very bones were a match, so thin they almost seemed frail.And with his weariness affecting his demeanor, he looked sickly, and so disconcertingly weak.

Quickly averting his eye lights so as not to stare, the initial sight stained his memory, and he found his own concern rising.Perhaps this was why Blue worried as much as he did.All of their brothers had low HP, that wasn’t exactly a secret, but none of them visibility fit the bill as much as Stretch did.And his being a younger brother, it only made sense Blue’s concern would be even higher.

Blinking away the image, he instead focused on the poster taped to the wall above the headboard.Probably a gift from Stretch’s Undyne.It appeared to be for some sort of cartoon he was unfamiliar with.

Once the mild shifting of fabric stopped, he glanced back to find Stretch settled beneath the sheets, his mostly closed sockets trained on him.A small miracle he could even manage that much, but he smiled through the weariness, in a way that made Edge’s soul clench.Small and gentle, but his brow bones furrowed just a touch, like he was still uncertain.

He didn’t know if it was to comfort Stretch or himself, but he reached out and took the single exposed hand, uncovered and resting not far from Stretch’s skull.He may have been surprised, but his exhaustion won out in the end, eyes sinking shut before he could do more than squeeze the hand with what little strength he could muster falling asleep.

And when the timer inevitably went off, Edge could only sigh.Blue would forgive him for abandoning their recipe.Right now, he had something a bit more important to tend to.

**Author's Note:**

> ‘S a little different from the one posted on tumblr, just cleaned it up a little!  
> Come hang out at my [spicyhoney blog](https://dumbgaybabylmao.tumblr.com/)! I’m also still accepting requests!


End file.
